New Delhi, Oct. 18 -- Climate Change and You is a fortnightly newsletter written by Bibek Bhattacharya and Sayantan Bera. Subscribe to the newsletter to get it directly in your inbox.

Dear reader,

It is a rare occasion when I can begin this newsletter with some good news, so here goes. About a week ago, news broke that renewable sources, such as solar and wind, generated more electricity than coal for the first time ever. Climate and energy think tank Ember's report found that electricity from solar and wind not only kept pace with the growth in global energy demand but also outpaced it by a further 9%.

Global electricity demand increased by 2.6% to 369 terawatt-hours (TWh) during the first six months of the year, surpassing the same p...